Sunday, 23 December 2012

The level of rain that has fallen over the last few days has
been truly unbelievable. All parts of Cornwall
have been affected to varying degrees and in St Enoder Parish, I have met with some residents who have
been affected by flooding and I will be making a series of representations
tomorrow (Christmas Eve) and into the New Year.

The above photograph shows the main road through Fraddon in the early hours of Saturday morning.

If you live in St Enoder Parish and have been affected,
please let me know so that I can build up a full picture of how local people
have been affected.

The news that the Chagos Islanders or Chagossians have
failed in their latest legal bid to return to their homeland is truly saddening.

The Islanders lived on the ChagosIslands, a British territory in the
Indian Ocean, until they were evicted in the 1960s and
1970s by the UK
government in order to allow the United States
to build a military base on the largest island, Diego Garcia.

They took their case to Strasbourg
after a long-running legal battle in the UK,
with the Law Lords ruled against the Islanders by a majority of 3-2 in 2008.

But last week, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)
ruled that the case was inadmissible. It stated: "The court notably found
that the heart of the applicants' claims under the European Convention on Human
Rights was the callous and shameful treatment which they or their antecedents
had suffered during their removal from the ChagosIslands."

But the court added that because the claims had been settled
"definitively" in domestic courts with a small amount of "compensation," the applicants had
"effectively renounced bringing any further claims to determine whether
the expulsion and exclusion from their homes had been unlawful and breached
their rights".

A spokesman for the islanders has appealed to the Coalition
Government to “stand by their pre-election promises to bring about a just and
fair settlement to one of the great tragedies of the 20th century, perpetrated
by the UK on the defenceless - the brutal removal of an entire people from
their homeland and their way of life, into a life of exile, poverty and
hardship."

Foreign Secretary William Hague welcomed the latest ruling, two-facedly
adding: "We have made clear our regret for the wrongs done to the Chagossian
people over 40 years ago.”

Mr Hague. Now is not a time for platitudes. Now is the time for
your Government to end this shameful and sordid episode in British history. Now
is the time to allow the Chagos Islanders to go home.

Friday, 21 December 2012

On Wednesday, Eric Pickles (above) announced the latest financial
settlement for local government. He told the House of Commons that the average
cut to local councils was 1.7%. Putting spin into over-drive, he nonsensically
claimed that it "represents a bargain to local authorities."

Cornwall Cornwall was told it would face a cut of 1.8%, but
this is a cut to its “spending power.”

This spurious concept of “spending power” includes estimates
of locally-raised council tax, Town and Parish Council monies, some NHS
funding, and so-called extras such the New Homes Bonus (which “rewards” councils
that promote high levels of development).

The reality is that this equates to a much more significant
reduction in Cornwall Council’s main formula grant but, as yet, these figures
have not been released. I understand that, today, senior officers at Cornwall
Council have been in contact with the Department of Communities to seek clarity
on future funding for Cornwall. No such clarity has been forthcoming.

The utterances of Pickles are crass and offensive. And the
spin that he put on the cuts is just dishonest. He does not understand local government or appreciate the hard work of council
workers in providing vital public services.

Indeed, I would go further. If the Conservative and Liberal
Democrat Coalition does not reverse its cuts, it will destroy local government!

Thursday, 20 December 2012

This week, the two-faced Conservative and Liberal Democrat Coalition
has praised the work of local councillors.

Local government minister Brandon Lewis (above) paid tribute
to our “often unsung and ongoing work in standing up for local residents,” commenting
also on our “integrity,” “independence” and
“respect” as “champions of the people.”

But he then went onto to announce the Coalition was planning
to stop councillors from joining the local government pension scheme.

He said: “Councillors are volunteers undertaking public
service; they are not and should not be employees of the council dependent on
the municipal payroll … they are not professional, full-time politicians, nor
should they be encouraged to become so.”

What hypocritical hogwash! I am a full-time councillor. This
is because, in order to properly represent my community, it takes 40-50 hours a
week. I have been offered other work, but have been unable to accept it because
of my Council duties.

I take my role as a councillor seriously, my sole income is my
“expenses” – in effect my wages – and I pay a small proportion of it into the local
government pension scheme.

I resent the fact that politicians such as Lewis dare to describe
councillors who pay into a pension scheme as having a “corrosive influence on
local democracy.”

Make no mistake, this Government is doing all in its power to
undermine local government with its cuts. And now it is deliberately trying to undermine
the ability of individuals to serve their local communities as councillors, in particular
making it ever more difficult for people of working age to take on this role in
places like Cornwall, where there is only one principal authority.

It came like a shot out of the blue. The news broke at about
4.00pm, when it became public knowledge that Kevin Lavery had been offered the post
of Chief Execuive for Wellington City Council in New Zealand.

Featured in the Dominion Post, under the heading “Council
chooses slash and burn CEO,” the New Zealand newspaper stated the following:

“An Englishman with a reputation for cost-cutting has been
picked as chief executive of Wellington City Council, ousting long-term
incumbent Garry Poole.

“In a closed-door meeting on Wednesday night, councillors
spent three hours debating the appointment of Kevin Lavery, who will receive a
salary of $420,000. Councillors interviewed four people for the position on
Monday, after deciding in August to advertise the position.

Mr Poole applied for the job but The Dominion Post
understand he lost out in a 9-6 vote to Dr Lavery, chief executive of Cornwall
Council in southwest England.

“In that role, which he has held for four years, Dr Lavery
has been responsible for a £1 billion (NZ$1.94b) budget, and has driven a
controversial proposal to outsource shared council services, including
information technology, call centres and procurement in an effort to cut costs.
In 2010, his pay package was worth £245,342 (NZ$476,732), and a newspaper
investigation found that Cornwall Council had the highest staff credit card
bill in Britain.

“Mr Poole announced the decision in a statement to staff
yesterday: ‘As you can appreciate, it is a decision that for me is a
significant disappointment. I am enormously proud of Wellington and what we
have done to help it build an international reputation as a remarkable place to
live, work, visit and play.’

“The council would be announcing the new appointment in ‘due
course’ and he would work with the executive leadership team on the transition.
‘I have great confidence that we all will ensure this change does nothing to
disrupt the quality and consistency of our work.’

“Mr Poole declined to be interviewed yesterday.

“At Monday's interviews, the short-listed candidates gave
presentations to the full council before being questioned by councillors.
Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown and Deputy Mayor Ian McKinnon oversaw the
process. All staff and the public were ejected from the floor of the town hall when
debate began on Wednesday.

“Ms Wade-Brown had previously said the council was aiming to
reach a decision before Christmas.

“She also declined to comment yesterday but in a statement
thanked Mr Poole for his work over the past 15 years and said the council would
work closely with him to ensure a smooth transition.

“She did not name the successful candidate, saying that
would be published once negotiations were complete.”

As a Cornwall Councillor, it comes as no surprise to find out
such news via the media – it is almost the norm at County Hall – and I assume we
will not know until tomorrow whether Kevin Lavery has accepted the appointment.

Tuesday, 18 December 2012

Today, squeezed in between two normal meetings, I joined a number of fellow councillors and staff from the Democratic Services section to perform a Nativity Play. This was part of the annual Cornwall Council Has (not) Got Talent competition, which raises money for Children in Need.

The narrator was Cllr Andrew Wallis was an angel! I was one of the three "not-so-wise" men played by three of the group leaders (see below). The others were the Lib Dem's Cllr Jeremy Rose and Cllr John Wood from the Independents.

My deputy leader Cllr Andrew Long played the donkey with great gusto (see below). Other councillors involved included Joyce Duffin as Mary, Bernie Ellis as the innkeeper and Lisa Dolley as a sheep, while Sally Bain played a triangle.

The second key debate at Full Council today was the future
governance arrangements for Cornwall Council. Two options had been worked up by
the Governance Review Panel of which I am Vice-Chairman.

These were a revised form of Cabinet and a “Strategic Committee”
alternative. I moved the “Strategic Committee” option, but this only won the
support of the five MK councillors and about twenty others.

Today was Full Council and the first agenda item was the
so-called Strategic Partnership. In the first vote, councillors voted against
the full BT outsourcing option – known to many as the “thick-JV” option. It was
rejected by 71 votes to 30.

The second proposal to be put to the vote was to keep
services “in-house.” This was lost by 50 votes to 46. The fifty councillors
were mainly Conservatives and independents, but included at least six Liberal
Democrats.

Early in the afternoon session, councillors voted to back a less
comprehensive, but still extremely significant, “thin-JV” option. This option includes ICT, document management,
telehealth and telecare, and will involve the transfer of over 300 staff into
a private company.

It is a sad day for Cornwall Council and the public sector.

For the record, all five MK councillors at the meeting (myself,
Stuart Cullimore, Loveday Jenkin, Andrew Long and Tamsin Williams) backed calls
to keep services in-house and opposed all the other options. Our sixth
councillor, Neil Plummer, was not present because he is ill with pneumonia.

Sunday, 9 December 2012

In this coming
week’s Cornish Guardian, my column will note the 70th anniversary of the
Beveridge Report and contrast it to the actions being perpetrated by the
Coalition Government. Here’s the preview:

December 2012
marks the seventieth anniversary of the Beveridge Report. Produced during the
Second World War, this document sought to tackle what it described as the “five
giant evils” of “idleness, ignorance, disease, squalor and want.” Beveridge
himself said that they were operating within a "revolutionary moment” in the history of the world and
that it was a “time for revolutions, not for patching.”

The
recommendations of the Report were truly far-reaching, and the
Ministry of Information stated that it had been “welcomed with almost universal
approval by people of all shades of opinion and by all sections of the
community” and that it was seen as “the first real attempt to put into practice
the talk about a new world.”

The Beveridge Report led to real societal change, including the creation of the National
Health Service and the welfare state. Indeed, there was a whole raft
of post-war legislation which
covered areas such as national insurance, family allowances, pensions, housing
and rent control.

Seven decades
on, we should be celebrating how the work of Beveridge and his colleagues
benefited millions and millions of families.

But I am fearful
of how the policies of this present government are undermining the traditional fairness
that has been at the core of British society for so long, much of which
emanated from the reforms of the late 1940s.

We have had the
Health and Social Care Bill, which has privatised great tracts of the NHS,
ignoring unprecedented levels of opposition from nurses, doctors and ordinary
people.

We have received
report after report demonstrating that government policies are impacting most
on the less-well-off and the vulnerable.

And only days
ago, 59 charities and other organisations (including Oxfam, Barnardos, the
Children's Society and the Child Poverty Action Group) joined together to
condemn attacks on the welfare budget.

Describing the government’s
approach as “punitive and unfair,” they argued it would hurt children and
families, and “risk losing the very safety net” instigated by Beveridge.

Their joint
letter also stated “the truth is that the vast majority of those who rely on
benefits and tax credits are either in work, have worked, or will be in work in
the near future … while the chancellor paints a picture of so-called ‘strivers’
and ‘skivers,’ our organisations see the reality on the ground: families
scraping by in low-paid work, or being bounced from insecure jobs to benefits
and back again."

I believe that the
Coalition Government needs to listen to those groups campaigning to end all
forms of poverty and social injustice, and to act accordingly, with the spirit
of Beveridge foremost in their minds.

The latest by-election for a seat
on Cornwall Council has returned a Conservative.

The winner was former Penwith
District Councillor Anthony Pascoe, who out-polled two prominent local
independents who came second and third.

MK put forward John Gillingham,
who polled 6.2% of the vote. This was John’s first-ever election campaign and
he was also MK’s first council candidate in this area since the 1970s.

John worked extremely hard and I
would like to congratulate him and his team for their efforts. I understand
they were very well-received on the doorstep, though sadly this did not
translate into more votes.

Saturday, 8 December 2012

My latest column
in the Cornish Guardian focuses on the Leveson Inquiry. It is as follows:

Lord Justice Leveson’s
wide-ranging Inquiry into the “culture, practices and ethics of the press” has reached
its conclusion. After sixteen months, and numerous hearings, he has produced a
hard-hitting report some 1,987 pages long and containing over one million
words.

It is to be
welcomed that “regional” newspapers such as the Cornish Guardian have been
praised as “playing an important social role” and being “good for our communities,
our identity and our democracy.”

But tellingly,
the main bulk of the report tackled how elements of the press had (i) failed to
respect privacy, (ii) obtained information illegally or unethically, and (iii)
harassed individuals.

The behaviour of
certain journalists, investigators and their editors were rightly condemned by Leveson
as “outrageous.”

The report contained
a range of recommendations, including a “new independent press regulator”
underpinned by legislation to ensure that it has the power to act.

The Prime
Minister David Cameron has already refused to support the key proposal of a
“statutory body” to oversee the regulator, expressing concerns that it could infringe
both “free speech and a free press.”

I do not share
Cameron’s view and feel that it is the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg who has
summed up the situation rather better.

He has noted
that there are two principles at play. One is the belief that a “raucous and
vigorous press” is the “lifeblood of a healthy democracy.” And the other, is
the belief that “the vulnerable, the innocent and the weak should be protected
from powerful vested interests.”

This is an extremely
important balance that must be achieved in the future.

I would not want
to see an end to high quality investigative journalism, but it is important
that action is taken against those who have undermined reporting in the UK.

There have been so
many shocking examples of how hundreds of people, both celebrities and ordinary
folk, have had to endure invasive surveillance, and have also had their phones
hacked and their computers compromised.

To give just one
example, I was pleased that Leveson condemned one of the tabloids who “obtained”
private medical information about Gordon Brown’s four-month-old son, and then
published the fact that young child had been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis.

Such intrusions
are unacceptable and cannot be allowed to continue.

We need a
responsible media and that is why I support Leveson’s full recommendation for a
new independent press regulator, underpinned by legislation.